Ubuntu 26.04 LTS “Resolute Raccoon” Enters Feature Freeze — Full Release Scheduled for April 23

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Ubuntu 26.04 LTS “Resolute Raccoon” Enters Feature Freeze — Full Release Scheduled for April 23

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Ubuntu 26.04 LTS “Resolute Raccoon” Enters Feature Freeze — Full Release Scheduled for April 23

February 20, 2026 — Canonical has officially announced that Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, codenamed “Resolute Raccoon,” has entered its feature freeze phase, marking a pivotal transition in the development cycle from active feature addition to bug fixing, stabilization, and polish ahead of its scheduled April release.

Feature Freeze Signals Final Stretch

Canonical engineer Utkarsh Gupta, representing the Ubuntu Release Team, made the announcement on the ubuntu-devel-announce mailing list today. With the feature freeze now in effect as of February 19, no new major features will be accepted into the release. Development focus shifts entirely to resolving bugs, refining existing functionality, and ensuring overall system stability. As is customary, feature freeze exceptions may still be granted on a case-by-case basis — particularly for features that Canonical considers strategic priorities for this Long Term Support release.

What’s New in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

Ubuntu 26.04 is shaping up to be one of the most significant LTS releases in years, packed with modern technology across the stack:

Kernel: Ubuntu 26.04 is targeting the Linux 6.20 kernel, which is currently predicted to launch on April 5, 2026 — just ahead of Ubuntu’s kernel freeze deadline. Notably, Linux 6.20 may be rebranded as Linux 7.0 by Linus Torvalds, though that decision has not yet been confirmed. Either way, shipping with the very latest kernel ensures broad hardware compatibility and long-term relevance for a release that will be supported well into the next decade.

Desktop Environment: GNOME 50 will serve as the default desktop environment, bringing the latest upstream improvements including a more polished interface, smoother animations, and enhanced accessibility. Critically, GNOME 50 drops the native X11 session entirely, making Ubuntu 26.04 a fully Wayland-first release. X11 applications will continue to run through XWayland for compatibility, but users requiring a full X11 desktop session will need to consider alternative desktop environments.

Compiler and Toolchain: The release uses GCC 15 as its compiler suite, alongside a broad set of updated toolchain components. Other key software version updates include Python 3.14 as the default Python version, OpenJDK 25 as the default Java runtime, and Golang 1.25 among the updated development tools.

New Default Applications: Two longstanding GNOME applications are being retired in favor of modern replacements. The Totem video player will be replaced by Showtime, and the GNOME System Monitor will give way to GNOME Resources — a community-developed tool from the GNOME Circle project offering a cleaner, more modern interface for monitoring CPU, memory, disk, and network usage.

AMD ROCm Support: AMD’s ROCm GPU computing platform will be included in the Ubuntu package archive, making it significantly easier for developers and AI/ML practitioners to install and use AMD GPUs for general-purpose computing workloads.

Security and Modern Utilities: Ubuntu 26.04 introduces Rust-based core utilities, including sudo-rs and uutils/coreutils, reducing the attack surface of critical system components. TPM-backed full disk encryption will also be supported, and Snap permission prompting will be enabled by default with a redesigned, GNOME-integrated interface.

Enterprise Features: Canonical is adding enhanced cloud authentication capabilities via authd, a new authentication daemon supporting cloud identity providers such as Microsoft Entra ID and Google Cloud IAM — strengthening Ubuntu’s position in enterprise environments.

Release Roadmap

With the feature freeze now active, the path to the final release is clearly defined:

Long-Term Support Details

As an LTS release, Ubuntu 26.04 will receive standard security support through April 2031 (5 years). With a free Ubuntu Pro subscription (available for personal use on up to five machines), users can extend coverage via Expanded Security Maintenance for an additional 5 years, and an optional Legacy Support tier extends the total lifecycle to 12 years — through April 2038.

It is worth noting that not all Ubuntu flavors will carry LTS status for this cycle. Ubuntu MATE and Ubuntu Unity have both encountered contributor resource challenges that may prevent them from offering a fully supported LTS edition. Other official flavors — including Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Cinnamon, Ubuntu Studio, Edubuntu, and Ubuntu Kylin — are all proceeding with LTS status as planned.

A Note on the Codename

The codename “Resolute Raccoon” was chosen by Steve Langasek, a former Debian and Ubuntu release manager who passed away in early 2025. The word “Resolute” — reflecting determination and unwavering commitment — is a fitting tribute for an LTS release that will serve millions of users and production systems for years to come.

For users currently running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Canonical recommends waiting for the Ubuntu 26.04.1 point release in August 2026 before upgrading production systems, as this first maintenance update typically resolves any post-launch issues and is when the official upgrade path from 24.04 LTS is enabled.

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS “Resolute Raccoon” Enters Feature Freeze — Full Release Scheduled for April 23

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